The Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Pender Islands Conservancy Association have less than a week to bring in more than $100,000 to meet their initial fundraising target to protect 45 acres known as KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest on North Pender Island.
The groups are trying to raise a total of $2.1 million to purchase the land, which is on the edge of Plumper Sound, overlooking orca habitat, and is seen as a critical part of the area’s watershed. The southwest border of the forest abuts Gardom Pond, a five-acre regionally protected wetland.
A campaign to raise an initial $200,000, matched by an anonymous donor and the Sitka Foundation — a family foundation that supports conservation organizations and causes — began on March 21 and runs until Wednesday. The groups hope to have $500,000 in hand by the end of the matching campaign.
The property is now owned by a private landowner.
On Friday, the Islands Trust Conservancy added a $5,000 grant to the matching campaign. Shauna Doll, the forest-project co-ordinator for the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, welcomed the contribution.
“Islands Trust Conservancy is a regional land trust focused on safeguarding the lands and waters of the Salish Sea,” she said. “It is staffed by biologists who intimately know and understand the condition of coastal Douglas fir forests and associated habitats.
So far, the matching campaign has raised close to $90,000 from individuals and businesses.
To donate, go to raincoast.org/forest.
